Amateur Radio in Bay County After Hurricane Michael

The local interest in amateur radio has greatly increased after Hurricane Michael. The Panama City Amateur Radio Club is working with the City of Panama City, Gulf Coast State College, and Gulf Coast Medical Center to increase our local capability to maintain communications after a disaster. A local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) group works with the Bay County Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

The City of Panama City has repaired the hurricane damage to the PCARC clubhouse and it has reopened. There are meetings at the clubhouse at 130 N. Church Ave, Panama City on Wednesdays at 7 PM. License tests are given on the third Wednesday of the month at 6 PM You can contact the club at panamacityarc@gmail.com. Our club president is Bob Leasko. His callsign is WB8PAF.

Amateur radio is a outstanding hobby for all ages as well as a help for emergencies. A license from the FCC is required to transmit on amateur frequencies. Amateur Radio license classes at GCSC will be announced soon.

The national organization for amateur radio is the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL). Visit this link for an introduction to amateur radio.

Bay County ARES has a new web site baycountyares.org

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment, with their local ARES leadership, for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes.

The Bay County ARES has meetings every second Thursday 1830-2000 Central Time at the Bay County EOC, 700 Florida Highway 2300, Panama City, Florida 32409, United States.

There is a Bay County ARES net on the AC4QB Repeater, 145.330 pl 100 Hz, at 7 PM on Thursdays except for the second Thursday.


For more information visit https://baycountyares.org/

Status of PCARC Clubhouse

PCARC,

The air conditioner is fully operational.

After Wednesday (July 10th) the club will go back to its original monthly schedule:

1st Wednesday of the Month - Business Meeting

2nd & 4th Wednesday of the Month - Rag Chew Meetings

3rd Wednesday of the Month - Testing & Presentation   

The CW Class will again be on Tuesdays and will resume on Tuesday (July 16th) at 1800. 

I will again try to have the clubhouse open at least one Saturday a month from 1200 - 1600.

It has been a long time, but we are back! 

73,

Bob, WB8PAF

President PCARC  

QSO Today Podcasts

The QSO Today Podcast hosted by Eric Guth 4Z1UG has over two hundred sixty episodes. That is quite a feat producing a weekly podcast consistently for five years. The secret is that Eric enjoys doing the interviews as much as his listeners enjoy hearing them. The fact is that Eric and I learn something new in each episode. Eric says the guests are the movers and shakers of amateur radio. He is right, and there is an endless list in this hobby. Eric starts with how each guest began in ham radio. From there, Eric explores the unique talents and accomplishments of each guest. The guest list is deep and wide. They include QRPers, DXers, contesters, homebrewers and more.

The QSO Today web site is www.qsotoday.com. Episodes are released weekly. The podcast is available on iTunes, YouTube, STITCHER, Libsyn, TuneIn, and others.



N4KGL's recommends these episodes to start listening. I find that every episode is a home run.

23 Dennis Blanchard K1YPP
28 Eddie Leighton ZS6BNE
39 Don Keith N4KC
45 Steve Galchutt WG0AT
57 Gerald Youngblood K5SDR
72 Bob Heil K9EID
80 Mike Rainey AA1TJ
85 Art Bell W6OBB
114 Laurie Margolis G3UML
168 Dennis Vernacchia N6KI

Just put the callsign of the guest in the search box on www.qsotoday.com to find the episode.

73 Greg N4KGL

Panama City ARC Field Day in the Local News

See the story on the WJHG/WECP website.

Panama City ARC will be On-The-Air for ARRL Field Day.

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club is participating in the 2019 ARRL Field Day on June 22/23. This year the club will set up radios and antennas at their clubhouse at 130 N. Church Ave in Panama City, FL. Emergency power will be used.

Field Day demonstrates an emergency communications capability, but it is also lots of fun. The club will contact as many other Field Day stations around the country as possible in 24 hours starting at 1 PM CDT on Saturday. Our club call sign W4RYZ will be used.

The public and media are invited. The best time to visit is on Saturday between 2 and 5 PM. All local amateur radio operators are welcome to get involved. The clubhouse was repaired by the city after Hurricane Michael damage. Panama City officials have been invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday.

Addison Marvin KK4DKT is the club Field Day coordinator. Questions can be sent to panamacityarc@gmail.com.

Return To St. Vincent Island

Panama City ARC had four stations activating St Vincent Island on May 11th using callsign W4RYZ. The operators included Ron KK4DWE, Bob KK4DIV, Phil N4STC, Dennis WA6QKN, and Greg N4KGL. We operated for a little less than three hours and had 120 contacts. This counted as a Parks On The Air (POTA) activation and One Day Getaway for US Island. please see the videos below.